Protective packaging for rim fire ammunition and the like



United States Patent PROTECTIVE PACKAGING yFOR RIM FIRE AMMUNITION AND THE yLIKE Clovis C. Chai-fraud, Ellensburg, Wash.

Application January 14, `1958, Serial No. 708,919

2 Claims. (Cl. 20G-3) This present invention relates to the lgeneral art of packaging ammunition and more particularly to a protective packaging for rim re ammunition which packages ten rounds of ammunition in a packet and then normally 5 packets are joined together in a sales package of 50 rounds.

Ammunition for rifled firearms has for many years been packaged in cardboard boxes. This form of packaging when applied to the larger vrifle ammunition of the center lire type is normally packed with two rows of cartridges with separators so arranged that each cartridge is spaced by a cardboard Wall from the adjacent cartridges. Rim fire cartridges of 22 caliber are normally packaged in boxes of 50 rounds in which the individual cartridges are alternately arranged so that, as a full box is viewed with the cover removed, 25 bullets are visible and 25 base cartridge bases are visible. This is satisfactory from the merchants view, however, it is a very clumsy one for the average shooter. Rim re 22 caliber rifles are primarily used either for target shooting, in which case normally heavier types of ries are employed, or plinking, by which is meant shooting at random targets, tin cans and other small targets that normally can be moved when hit by a bullet. The standard 50 box packaging of ammunition proves to be quite unsatisfactory for the target shooter. He normally shoots in strings of 5 or 10 rounds which usually are red on certain specifc types of targets. In these instances it is desirable that only the exact number of rounds be tired as the shooter is penalized if more than the proper number of bullets hit a single target. It therefore usually follows that the target shooter will remove the cartridges from the manufacturers box and place them in wooden blocks that are drilled to accept the cartridges, point first, in units of 5 to insure that a proper tally of the rounds red is kept.

The small game pest hunter or the shooter who s plinking at odd targets has considerable trouble with his ammunition as supplied in the box because after a few rounds have been used the box is no longer supported by the cartridges themselves and as a result the cover no longer stays in place and the cartridges become loose in the shooters pocket. Under these conditions dust and other contaminants adhere to the cartridges and this causes considerable diliiculty when they are loaded into arms and red. This present invention makes it possible for a shooter to open as few as five rounds at a time out of a package of 50 with all the rest of the ammunition maintained in a perfectly clean condition.

This present invention provides a packetng arrangement wherein the cartridges are grouped in units of five with two such groups in a single packet and normally ve such ten round packets are joined in a single package for sale.

The principal object of this present invention, therefore, is to provide a protective packaging for cartridges, particularly of the rim re type in which the rounds are grouped into two groups of 5 making a packet of 10 and this packet is fully enclosed in an impervious covering.

A further object of this invention is to provide ammunition that can be readily used in groups of 5 by target shooters or hunters to the end that the ammunition will be accurately counted for the shooter and readily available without in any way opening the ammunition that is not going to be used immediately.

A further object of this invention is to provide a protective covering for ammunition that has an adhesive property, to the end that the groups of cartridges will be held in exact form by the wrap-around covering.

A further object of this invention is to provide a packaging arrangement for a plurality of cartridge packets to the end that the packets can be individually removed from the package without disturbing the balance of the cartridges.

A further object of this invention is to provide a convenient means for opening just the cartridges that are desired for immediate use.

Further objects, advantages and capabilities will be apparent from the description and disclosure in the drawings, or may be comprehended or are inherent in the device.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view showing, in bracketed arrangement, a partially opened package with one packet opened in order to show the general construction of the same, certain parts being shown in section.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional View taken through the middle portion of a package of ammunition with the cutting plane passing between the points of the bullets and dividing each of the separate packets into two parts.

Figure 3 is a top plan view showing the manner in which the enclosing and descriptive wrap-around covering is arranged.

Figure 4 is a perspective View illustrating a packet after one group of 5 rounds has been removed and showing the manner in which the remaining 5 round group is easily fully protected for future use.

Referring more particularly to the disclosure in the drawings, the numerals l@ and l2 designate two groups of 5 cartridges each in which the cartridges C are disposed oppositely so that the bullets of the two groups of cartridges meet ata central plane of the packet. These groups are held together as a unit by the packet wrap 13. A protective unit covering 14 is provided for the` 10 cartridges forming the packet. A preferred form of this covering is one which is Vimpervious and one which has inherent stiffness so that when it is separated .frornfthe rest of the package, making a sales package, it will retain its shape. One very satisfactory form of material is metal` foil'which is provided, on one side with an adhesive coating 16, which is faced inwardly. A preferred form of this adhesive coating is -to -be found inthe` various resin: base/adhesives which are currently beingapplied vto fabric,"

paper and metal foils. The resin base plastics have the quality of maintaining a tackiness throughout a wide range of temperatures and it has been found that this form of adhesive, while it will tend to cling to the cartridge cases, has greater anity to its own backing than it does to the cartridge cases; consequently, when it is stripped olf the cartridge cases in opening the packet no adhesive will normally be left on the cartridge cases themselves and this is a very desirable characteristic. An adhesive of this order, particularly when used with metal foil, makes it very simple to seal the packets by merely folding the free ends of the foil covering onto the outer foil surfaces. Also, after one group of 5 cartridges has been removed from the packet, the foil walls that normally house these rounds can be pressed together and folded back after the showing at 20 of Figure 4 and a good tight enclosure will be provided for the remaining five rounds of the packet. This is a feature of this package that has proven very acceptable to all users.

Each of the individual packets is provided with a rip cord as 18. This cord is normally exposed and is accessible at each end, as will be noted in Figure 1. In the bracketed Figure 1 one of the packets as P has been separated from the package and opened to fully expose one group of cartridges and then the rip cord 18 has been torn through the package to the point where the bottom row of cartridges is about to be uncovered also. This would be the normal way of opening the entire packet if 10 rounds, for instance, were to be tired at a certain type of target. If the shooter were going to merely load his rifle or pistol with 5 rounds and then desired to carry the other 5 rounds in his pocket he would normally use the rip cord 18 only to uncover the ammunition sufficiently so that one group of 5 rounds could be removed and then the emptied portion would be folded back as shown at 20 in Figure 4.

In order to provide a convenient sales package it has been found desirable to incorporate 5 packets P, each of l rounds, into a single package and this is best achieved by using an adhesive tape as 22 to substantially encircle each packet, leaving a spacing portion as at 24 between packets where the adhesive surface of the tapes are brought together. This tape may be perforated as at 26 to provide an easy tearing strip so that the individual packets P may be disconnected from each other. With this arrangement the packets can be unfolded after the showing of Figures 1 and 2. When the 5 packets are all folded together a second enclosing adhesive tape 30 encircles the entire five packets to form the sales package shown in plan view in Figure 3. This tape 30, for the sake of appearance, is normally wider than the enclosing tape 22 and presents the most suitable surface which would be employed to carry the makers name and a description of the ammunition.

It will be apparent it is believed that while this method of packaging is ideal for 22 rim fire ammunition that it of course, also provides a very convenient package for center lire ammunition especially for military and hunters use. As military and big game hunting requires the longer cartridges, a single row only, as for instance one of the groups as 10 or 12, would be employed, but similarly covered with similar materials. If two round groups are disposed in line and joined with another such unit a sales package of 20 rounds would result and be of substantially the size and shape of a 20 round box as noted in the preamble of this specication. This would be very satisfactory to the sportsman as he could break it down to four individual fully protected groups of 5 rounds.

For military use the number of rounds in a sealed group will normally be a function of the number of rounds required to fully charge the soldiers weapon and might also include the charger or clip used if the ammunition is normally issued to the troop so contained. Packaging military ammunition, for use by the individual soldier, in this manner would be a marked improvement on the present arrangement. Normally the ammunition for military shoulder arms is packed in cloth bandoleers which are sealed in heavy metal boxes and then to protect the boxes a heavy wooden case is used. However, the greatest danger of contamination of the ammunition is after it is issued to the individual in the bandoleer which oifers no protection against water, mud, sand and the like. With my protective packaging such protection is assured and the soldier can be certain that the ammunition will feed, chamber and lire in any of his automatic and semi-automatic weapons.

1t is believed that it will be clearly apparent from the above description and the disclosure in the drawings that the invention comprehends a novel construction of protective packaging for rim re ammunition and the like.

Having thus disclosed the invention, I claim:

1. A protective packaging for rie and pistol ammunition, comprising: a packet formed of two rows of cartridges disposed in a single plane with their bullets in contact; a non-adhesive packet wrapping disposed around the bullet ends of the two rows of cartridges in a manner to leave the primer end of the cartridge exposed for easy grasping for withdrawal purposes; a rst adhesive coated foil wrapping fully enclosing said packet; parting means disposed around the periphery of said packet with each end exposed for engagement during the packet opening operation; a packet encircling second adhesive tape arranged to engage both sides of a plurality of packets with a spacing portion between each packet where the second tape from each side of the packet joins in adhesive bond; a line of perforations passing through said spacing portion to assist in separating the packets from each other; and a third adhesive foil strip, wider than said second tape, encircling the plurality of packets when they are in juxtaposition to form a compact sales package.

2. A protective packaging for rie and pistol ammunition, comprising: a packet formed of two groups of cartridges disposed in rows and in a single plane with their bullets in contact; a packet wrapping disposed around the bullet ends of the two groups of cartridges in a manner to leave the primer end of the cartridge exposed for easy grasping for withdrawal purposes; a rst adhesive coated flexible wrapping fully enclosing said packet; rip cord means disposed around the periphery of said packet with each end exposed for manual engagement during the packet opening operation; a packet encircling second tape, arranged to engage both sides of a plurality of packets with a spacing portion between each packet where the second tape from each side of the packet are joined together; and a third, adhesive tape encircling the plurality of packets when they are in juxtaposition to form a compact package.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,194,451 Soubier Mar. 19, 1940 2,379,934 Seiferth July 10, 1945 2,732,111 Fogle Jan. 24, 1956 

